The Daily bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Hawaii]) 1882-1895, 1887-08-31
THE ISLAND KINGDOM.

In the 'Cnf0nlCle OF yesterday
was given a chapter from the secret
history of the recent revolution in
the Sandwich Islands, which throws
a new light upon the matter. 1t has
been strenuously contended by
many that the uprising was the cul-
mination Of an era OF mismanage-
ment and extravaganza, and was
purely spontaneous; and the tenor
of the news from Hawaii certainly
led to that conclusion. The lIa-
waian Rifles were represented as
the friends of the people, and using
their power simply TO the end that
bad and dangerous men might be
removed from office, that abuses
might be corrected, and that the
best citizens of the kingdom might
become Kalakaua's constitutional
advisers.
Not until now has there been so
much as a hint that selfishness and
desire for personal ACKNOWLEDGMENT
lay at the bottomofsall the apparent
solicitude for the welfare OF the
kingdom. Never until the publica-
ton of the article referred to has it
been suggested that the gallant
Colonel of the Rifles had the adj
vancement of the Ashford family
chiefly at heart, and even when his
brother was appointed to the import
ant Office of ACKNOWLEDGEMENT of the
kingdom it does not seem to have
occurred to any one that such an
appointment, or power in some way
for the Ashfords, was the true in
wardness of the bloodless revolu-
ton. They seem to have acquired
the full confidence of eX-Premier
Gibson, and then to have used that
confidence and the power of the SOL
diery to overthrow Gibson and climb
to the positions of trust and emolu-
ment over the downfallen Minister.
No doubt Gibson Is much better out
of Office than in it, but his faults
cannot excuse the ingratitude of the
Ashfords.
DR.. johnson defined patriotism as
the last refuge of a scoundrel; and
while no one believes in such a de-
fnition of true patriotism, it cannot
be doubted that designing, ambi-
tious, unscrupulous men have too
often assumed the cloak of patriot
ism to cover their own nefarious
schemes. Frequently the man who
shouts the loudest for the rights of
the people is the first to betray
them, or to warp the privileges
wrung by the people from their
tyrants to his own aims and ends.
The Ashfords may have been guilty
of nothing more than ingratitude to
their benefactor, but they made
their patriotism pay, and its purity
will always be questioned.
After all, it is only game of
grab in the Sandwich Islands. If
7 one man or set of men does not con-
troll the King, another does, and the
revolutions, as we have frequently
had occasion to point out, are only
a victory of the outs over the ms.
just now the Gibson influence is at
the nadir and the Ashford influence
at its zenith. Another turn of the
wheel and the whole state of public
affairs may be reversed. The coun-
try needs head, whether it be
called King or President, or what
not. 1t needs an executive who has
mind and will of his own, who can
command the confidence of the peo-
pie, natives and foreigners alike;
who will devote himself to public
business, and who will be a leader
in deed and not merely in name.
Such a ruler Kalakaua cannot be.
He has not the qualifications of
sovereign, and now that the new
Constitution has been adopted, he
will be more of King Log than
ever.
How long the Hawaiian Kingdom
can stand unsupported no one can
tell. If it is to remain monarchy,
it needs different King; if it is